Nicole Lampert in the Evening Standard – Why London Jews fear for their future in the capital:
Samson is 13 and has had to get used to antisemitic abuse when he leaves his north London Jewish school, but there was one incident a couple of months ago that still scars him. He was walking towards Belsize Park underground and was lagging behind his friends. “Most of my friends had crossed the road but I was on my own when I was targeted by two guys wearing balaclavas. They did a Nazi salute, they spat on the ground and said, ‘dirty Jew’,’’ says Samson.
“Then they grabbed me by my shirt collar and pushed me against a gate and demanded my phone.” The assault only ended when other people approached the attackers. “The whole episode left me feeling quite shaken up,” adds Samson. This wasn’t the first time he’d been attacked on his way home from school — he’d been spat at on the Tube and called names — just the most violent….
Schools are just one of the many areas in which antisemitism has spiked since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 heralded the start of a new war with Gaza. The Community Security Trust (CST) which monitors anti-Jewish hatred has labelled school antisemitism a particular growth problem, with 107 reported incidents in the last six months. Jewish parents find themselves in a quandary: send them to a Jewish school where they will be safe in the playground but attacked when they leave (41 of those incidents happened during a daily commute) or send them to a non-religious school and hope they don’t get bullied.
Dozens of London Jewish parents have had to remove their children from schools because of antisemitic bullying. Worst of all? It might come from the children but can be seen to be encouraged by the teachers….
A grim read.
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